Castles of Gold : A History of New Zealand's West Coast Irish

From the 1860s, the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island was the scene of two major gold strikes, attracting hopefuls from all over the world. Suddenly, where there had been native bush and wide rivers, towns with 400 pubs and accommodation houses had appeared. Amongst the hopefuls were Irish miners, many of whom stayed on after the goldrushes as part of a community with its own distinctive character.This is the first academic study on the history of those Irish - where they came from, who they were, how many women came and what they did.

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Table of contents

The Prospect; 'Land of Gold': Irish Migrations to the Diggings; 'The Elusive Pile': Working Lives on the Goldfields; Land, Love or Lucre: Irish Marriages on the West Coast; Old Beliefs in a New World: Religion on the Mining Frontier; Far from Home? Diaspora Politics and the West Coast Irish; Washing Up; Bibliography.